“When national Republicans took their money elsewhere, Johnson’s campaign turned it up a notch, didn’t surrender, and just kept at it day after day,” Fraley said.

Fraley suggested Feingold was too confident it would be an easy race, which he said could be his undoing.

Despite being the incumbent, Johnson has succeeded in presenting himself as an outsider in comparison to Feingold’s long career in public service, having served in the state Legislature before being elected to the Senate.

“Johnson has done a good job of being his own man without upsetting Trump’s true believers,” Fraley said. “Johnson is still the underdog, but he definitely has the momentum heading into Election Day. From Bernie Sanders to Donald Trump, 2016 has been the year of the outsider.”

Politico recently published an article that highlighted Obamacare rate increases in states where there are competitive US Senate races this fall. The reporter accurately quoted me, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to expand my thoughts a bit.

I told her, flat out that I think the fallout from the ACA implementation could be a sleeper issue in the Wisconsin race that could propel Senator Johnson to victory in November.

All the pieces are there for the Senator to effectively campaign on this issue.

If Johnson were to frame the issue correctly, he could make Feingold’s vote for Obamacare an albatross that would drag him down to defeat in November. He could simply tell voters: “If you have better access to better, more affordable healthcare now than you did 6 years ago, vote for Senator Feingold. If not, don’t reward the man who cast the decisive vote to pass Obamacare.”

There are clear differences between Johnson, Feingold regarding Obamacare. And there are plenty of reason why that contrast matters to Wisconsinites.